Berry Picking

The Age

Thursday March 17, 2005

DAVID ADAMS

Michael Leighton is the State MP for Preston and chairs parliamentary subcommittees on electronic democracy and IT.

What technology couldn't you live without?

A BlackBerry.

Why did you start using it?

We trialled 20 of them in parliament - across the parties and departments. At the end of the trial, we had to hand them back.

I remember walking into the IT manager a couple of days before Christmas and I just about threw the BlackBerry at him and called him a "reverse Santa".

Did you then buy your own?

No, the moment we sorted out tendering issues they were made available to MPs.

What do you like most about it?

Getting the email live, no doubt about that.

In July and August last year, a couple of us went to Canada and the US and it was just amazing once the plane pulled into the terminal, I was able to turn on my BlackBerry and see my emails coming through 30 seconds later.

What's the biggest headache you have with technology at the moment?

Within the parliament, it's spam and spyware. I think spyware is one of the most serious threats for IT systems at the moment, probably more so than viruses.

Why is spyware such a threat?

Because anti-virus software doesn't necessarily recognise it as being a threat and as a result you can have trojans installed and keyloggers. Some of it, of course, is just a nuisance - such as the adware - but when you start getting trojans and keyloggers, it's obviously a very serious threat.

What security software do you use?

One that parliament has installed has been PestPatrol, and I made a decision to buy that as well for my private computer.

Have you ever used the internet to vote for anything?

Quite regularly. But I'm not convinced of how legitimate (online polls) are in gauging public opinion. About the best you can say is they engage those who were motivated enough on the net to vote.

What was the last question you voted on?

I think it might have been one on the federal Labour party leadership, but don't ask me which side it was for.

You kept a blog during your trip to the US as part of your inquiry into e-democracy. Have you thought about doing a personal blog?

I have thought about that and I've probably got to do that after our inquiry.

Is there a particular blog that you read?

During the American presidential elections, I read the blogs of both Bush and Kerry, but not since the US elections.

Has your penchant for technology ever got you into an embarrassing situation?

I was going to a conference and it turned into a circus. I had two notebooks, a printer, the BlackBerry, a CDMA phone, the memory stick and I had a manbag to cart this around. I was pulling cables out of my pocket and I thought, `Any minute, they're going to take me away for questioning'. Then I saw the sign saying "only one notebook", so I tried to hide the second one under my overcoat.

MY FAVOURITE THINGS

1. BlackBerry 2. IBM ThinkPad and Sony VAIO 3. 1GB USB memory stick 4. Sony Cybershot digital camera 5. Canon BJC-85 portable colour bubble jet printer.

© 2005 The Age

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